How the Bureaucracy Wrecks International Travel
News Analysis
Like all truly great bureaucracies, unelected U.S. government staff members revel in adhering to nonsensical, inefficient procedures to create some semblance of order and limit autonomous decision-making. When it comes to U.S. international travel policy, President Biden’s bureaucratic army has come out in full force to accomplish absolutely nothing and avoid all responsibility. At the heart of this evasion of public accountability is the Administration’s uncanny deference to other parts of itself.
During a White House briefing in July of 2021, the press inquired why Americans were allowed to travel to other countries, but the United States was still banning foreigners following the release of the COVID-19 vaccines: “Does the President believe it’s safe for Americans to travel to Europe, but it’s not safe for Europeans to travel here?” Former Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded that decisions regarding international travel would be made by “our public health and medical experts.” Here, the White House deferred to the Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)….